8.

Direct and Indirect Speech

The words of a speaker may be reported in two ways:

(i) We may quote his actual words. This is called Direct Speech.

(ii)We may report what he said without quoting his exact words. This is called Indirect
Speech.

Example:

Direct: Rama said, ‘I am very busy now.’

Indirect: Rama said that he was very busy then.
Note the following points:

In Direct Speech

• The actual words of the speaker are put within Inverted Commas (“ ”)
• The first letter of the actual words of the speaker begins with a capital letter.
• The Direct Speech is separated by a comma from the Reporting Verb.

In Indirect Speech

• Inverted Commas are not (“ ”).

• Conjunction that is generally used before the Indirect Statement.
• The comma separating the Reporting Verb from the Direct Speech is removed.
• The tense of the Reporting Verb is never changed.

Rules for Changing Direct Speech into Indirect

Change of Tenses

Rule 1: If the Reporting Verb is in the Present or Future Tense, the tense of the Direct
Speech does not change; as

Direct : He says, “I am unwell”

Indirect : He says that he is unwell.
Direct : He has said, “My master is writing letters.”
Indirect : He has said that his master is writer letters.
Direct : He will say, “I am ready”
Indirect : He will say that he is ready.

Rule 2: If the Reporting Verb is in the Past Tense, the tense of the Direct Speech is changed
into one of the forms of the Past Tense, as follows:

(a) A Simple Present becomes A simple Past:

Direct : He said, “I am unwell”
Indirect : He said that he was unwell.

1
 (b) A Present Continuous becomes a past continuous:
Direct : He said, “My master is writing letters.”
Indirect : He said that his master was writing letters.
(c) A Present Perfect becomes a past perfect:
Direct : He said, “I have passed the examination.”
Indirect : He said that he had passed the examination.
(d) A Simple Past becomes a Past Perfect:
Direct : He said, “The horse died in the night.”
Indirect : He said that the horse had died in the night.
(e) A Past Continuous becomes Past Perfect Continuous.
Direct : He said, “I was writing a letter.”
Indirect : He said that he had been writing a letter.
(f) A Past Perfect and a Past Perfect Continuous remain unchanged :
Direct : He said, “The flood had destroyed their fields.”
Indirect : He said that the flood had destroyed their fields.
Direct : He said, “Amina had been singing.”
Indirect : He said that Amina had been singing.
(g) Will changes into would, shall into should or would, can into could, and may into
might:
Direct : He said, “I will write a letter.”
Indirect : He said that he would write a letter.

Rule 3- If the Direct Speech expresses some universal truth or habitual action, its tense is not
changed into the corresponding past, it remains exactly as it is; as,

Universal Truth

Direct : He said, “The sun rises in the east”

Indirect : He said that the sun rises in the east.
Habitual Action

Direct : He said, “I go to temple every Tuesday.”

Indirect : He said t that he goes to temple every Tuesday.
Note: When the Reporting Verb, ‘say’ takes an indirect object it is changed into ‘tell’ in the
Indirect Speech; as,
Direct : “We shall go home,” he said to me.
Indirect : He told me that they would go home.
Rule -4 The words expressing nearness in time or place in Direct Speech are generally
changed into words expressing distance in Indirect Speech.
Now becomes then Ago becomes before
This becomes that Come becomes go
Here becomes there Today becomes that day
These becomes those Yesterday becomes the previous day
Hence becomes thence Tonight becomes that night
Hither becomes thither Last night becomes the previous night
Thus becomes so Tomorrow becomes the next day
Direct
Hereby :He said, “It is raining
becomes therebynow” Next month becomes the following
month
2
 Indirect :He said that it was raining then.
Note: The changes do not occur if the speech is reported during the same period or at the same
place.

Direct: He says, “I am glad to be here this evening.

Indirect: He says he is glad to be here this evening

Change of Pronouns
Rule- 1 First Person Pronouns of the Direct Speech are changed according to Subject in
Indirect Speech; as,
Direct: He said, “I am doing my work.”
Indirect: He said that he was doing his work.
Rule-2 Second Person Pronouns of the Direct Speech are changed according to object in
Indirect Speech;as,

Direct: He said to me, “You are a clever boy”

Indirect: He told me that I was a clever boy.
Rule- 3Third Person Pronouns of the Direct Speech remain unchanged in Indirect
Speech; as,
Direct: He said, “She will not teach him.”
Indirect: He said that she would not teach him.

Rule-4 The Nouns and Pronouns in Vocative Case are turned into objects in the Indirect
Speech; as

Direct : The Teacher said, “Arun, you should try hard.”

Indirect : The teacher told Arun that he should try hard.
Rule-5If the Pronoun he or she stands for different persons, the names of the person referred
to are inserted in brackets after the pronouns. Besides, Nouns could be used instead of
Pronouns wherever possible.
Direct : Arun said to Varun, “I want your book.”
Indirect : Arun told Varun that he (Arun) wanted his (Varun’s) book.

1. Assertive Sentences
In reporting an Assertive Sentence the Indirect Speech

3
 • The Reporting Verb said should be changed to told if it is followed by an object;if
there is no object, it should be left unchanged.
• That is used as a conjunction. Its use is optional, but usually it is not omitted.
• Tenses, pronounces and words denoting nearness should be changed according to the
rules already stated.

Direct: They said to Anuj, “You are a brave boy”

Indirect: They told Anuj that he was a brave boy.

Direct: Ramesh said, “Sister, you are late today.”

Indirect: Ramesh told his sister that she was late that day.
Direct: He said to me, “I don’t believe you.”
Indirect: He said he did not believe me.
Direct: The teacher said to me, “I have never seen such a clever girl as you are.”
Indirect: The teacher told me that she had never seen such a clever girl as I was.
Direct: Pandit Nehru said, “Ladies and gentlemen! The whole society is responsible for the
prevalence of corruption in the country.”
Indirect: Addressing the ladies and gentlemen, Pandit Nehru that the whole society was
responsible for the prevalence of corruption in the country.

2. Interrogative Sentences
In reporting a Question in the Indirect Speech
• The reporting verb is changed to asked, inquired, demanded, etc.
• When the question is not introduced by an interrogative word, the reporting verb is
followed by whether or if.
• The mark of Interrogation which is placed after questions in the Direct Speech is
replaced by a full stop.
• If the question begins with an Interrogative word such as what which when whose who
where how and why the same word is used in the indirect speech to introduce the words
spoken by the speaker; as,
• Tenses, pronounces and words denoting nearness should be changed according to the
rules already stated.

Direct: He said to us, “Are you going away today?”

Indirect: He inquired of us whether we were going away that day.
Direct: He said, “Do you know the way?”
Indirect:He inquired of me if I knew the way.”
Direct: He said, “Will you listen to such a man?”
Indirect: He asked them whether they would listen to such a man.
Direct: He said to me, ‘What are you doing?’
Indirect:He asked me what I was doing.
Direct: ‘Where do you live?’ asked the stranger
Indirect: The stranger enquired where I lived.
Direct:The police man said to us, ‘Where are you going?’
Indirect:The policeman enquired where we are going.
Direct: ‘Do you suppose you know better than your own father’ jeered his angry mother.
Indirect: His angry mother jeered and asked whether he supposed that he knew better than his
own father.

4
3. Imperative Sentences
• When the Direct Speech is in Imperative Mood, the Indirect Speech is introduced by
some verb expressing command, advice or request. In such a case the right verb
should be selected in accordance with the sense. Such reporting verbs are given
below.

Command : order, command, bid, tell.

Advice : advise, urge.
Request : request, ask, desire.
Proposal : suggest, propose.
Prohibition : forbid

• The Imperative mood is changed into the ‘Infinitive’.

• Tenses, pronounces and words denoting nearness should be changed according to the
rules already stated.
Examples: Direct: Rama said to Arjun, ‘Go away.’
Indirect: Rama ordered Arjun to go away.
Direct:: He said to him, ‘Please wait here till I return.’
Indirect: He requested him to wait there till he returned.
Direct: ‘Call the first witness,’ said the judge.
Indirect: The judge commanded them to call the first witness.
Direct : He said to her, “Lend me your book, please.”
Indirect: He requested her to lend him her book.
Direct: Anand said to me, “Work regularly.”
Indirect : Anand advised me to work regularly.
Direct: The teacher said to the pupils, “Do not stand here”
Indirect: The teacher forbade the students to stand there.

• When ‘let’ in the Direct Speech expresses a proposal or suggestion the following
changes are made in Indirect Speech.
(i) Reporting Verb is changed into propose or suggest.
(ii) Conjunction ‘that’ it is used.
(iii)‘Let’ is replaced by ‘should’.
Direct: He said to us, “Let us have some food”
Indirect: He proposed or suggested to us that we should have some food.

5
 Note: When let does not express a proposal it should be changed into might or might
be allowed or into some other verb according to sense.
Direct He said to his friends, “Let me study, please.”
Indirect: He requested his friends that he might be allowed to study.

4. Exclamatory Sentences
In reporting a wish or Exclamation in the Indirect Speech, the following changes occur
• The Reporting Verb say or tell is changed into wish, bless, pray, cry, exclaim, declare,
confess, cry out,etc.,with such phrases as with regret, with delight, with joy or sorrow,
where necessary.
• The interjections and exclamations such as: Oh, Well, Hurrah, Alas, Bravo, Curse it,
are omitted and their sense is expressed by means of phrases.
• The exclamatory form is changed into a statement and the note of exclamation is
replaced by a full stop.
• Tenses, pronounces and words denoting nearness should be changed according to the
rules already stated.
Examples:
1. Direct: He said, “God save my son!”
Indirect: He prayed that God might save his son.
2. Direct: He said, ‘Bravo! You have done well.’
Indirect: He applauded him, saying that he had done well.
3. Direct: They said, “Hurrah! We have won the match.”
Indirect: They exclaimed with delight that they had won the match.
4. Direct: He said, ‘Alas! I am undone’
Indirect: He exclaimed sadly that he was undone.
5. Direct: She said, “Alas! He is dead.”
Indirect: She cried out with sorrow that he was dead.
6. Direct: Alice said, ‘How clever I am’
Indirect: Alice exclaimed that she was very clever.
7. Direct: “What a horrible accident it is!” he said
Indirect: He exclaimed that it was a horrible accident.
8. Direct: ‘So help me, Heaven!’ he cried, ‘I will never steal again.’
Indirect: He called upon Heaven to witness his resolve never to steal again.